According to the calendar I was to have a two week vacation starting August 10, ending on the 23d. My last work week, prior to vacation, ended up being a seven day week as I headed off to a working retreat in order to gain training as an EFM (Education for Ministry) mentor, arriving home late afternoon on Sunday.Â When I got home that Sunday, I knew I was ready to exit society, and I did.

My first week of vacation was spent completing my canonical exams for the Diaconate. I am not quite sure how I felt about the “final exam”, especially with the limited space allowed for answers, but I’ll see when I hear back. This intense exam was sent back to the reader(s) this Monday. I am told it takes a few months to receive word. If I was able to satisfy the requirements, there is a chance I would be ordained this January, but for many years now I have barely spoken of this, so much so that I hesitate to mention it here. Read More »

One of the great lessons I learned in seminary was seeing things with a new eye, not settling for assumptions contained within the status quo. “Read what is exactly on the page,” we were told, “don’t moralize…theologize!”

I recently screened, for Felix, a film he had never seen, and one I had not watched in many, many years. The story found within Chariots of Fire, for some, might be the simple story of two men vying for an Olympic medal, representing Brittan in 1925 summer Olympics held in Paris. Read More »

In what has been called the dark ages, Benedict, the hermit, was called by an early Christian community to be their leader. In time he codified a method of spiritual living, creating what would be known as The Rule, founding twelve monasteries forming the basis western monasticism, a style of spirituality still practiced today.

Benedictâ€™s rule, the regimen of work, study, prayer, worship, and community, may seem stern, but its followers take seriously the teaching of Jesus found in Matthew which says, â€śIf any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who loose their life for my sake, will find itâ€ť (Mat 16:24-25) Read More »